Our Actions

Below is a timeline of some of the actions we have taken or achievements we have made

2013

• Our reduction in the amount of plastic used was as follows:
  • Hi-Fi range – 3% reduction
  • Alfa-A range – 6-10% reduction
  • Healthy Hooves – 23% reduction

2014

• Moved away from soya oil grown in Brazil to rapeseed oil grown in the UK to guard against deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and reduce “feed miles”

2015

• Began the replacement of all sodium lighting to LED to reduce energy usage
• Introduced an automated stock control system to replace a paper-based system
• Dengie achieved the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety standard

2016

• Changed to a packaging supplier with the capability to re-use and remove solvents used in the print process without leaving a residue in the environment. In addition the heat generated in their recovery process is reused in their production facility.

2017

• Invested in improved equipment to increase the amount of stretch achieved with our stretch wrap by over 65%. This meant an extra 600 pallets could be wrapped per ton of stretch wrap film.

2018

• Completed a survey to show that yields of cereals grown on fields where alfalfa is a part of the crop rotation have increased in contrast to fields where alfalfa isn’t grown

2019

• Introduced carbon neutral packaging for Hi-Fi Original
• Solar panels were installed on our new office building

2020

• Introduced the maximum amount of recycled plastic into our packaging that is possible to use at this time whilst ensuring the bags remain recyclable when finished with
• Biodegradable sample bags and labels were introduced
• A 5% reduction in organic waste in FY20 compared to FY19

2021

• Introduced one hybrid and one fully electric car into our small fleet of company cars
• Embarking on accreditation with Investors in the Environment
• We currently use around 60 tons of recycled material in our packaging, which equates to around 150,000 4pint milk bottles.

2022

• Achieved bronze status for Investors in the Environment
• We installed an electric charging point at our Head Office and now have 3 fully electric cars and 3 hybrids in our fleet of company cars.
• During October to December 2022, we used around 45% less electricity than for the same period in 2021. This was as a result of increasing our energy efficiency by switching off equipment and lights when not in use and continuing to swap lights bulbs for energy efficient versions.
• We have started to send any plastic we can’t use from our own site back to be recycled into the packaging film we use for our feeds.
• We introduced a pallet return scheme to enable us to reuse and recycle pallets, and as a result we reduced the number of fresh pallets we brought by 59% This is the equivalent of saving 1,350 trees from being felled for virgin timber for us!